


✼ Always and forever ✼

by Blue_Crow757



Category: Tennis RPF, The Iliad - Homer, The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tennis, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Humor, Gay Panic, Gay Rights, Idiots in Love, It will have angst, M/M, Might have smut, Modern AU, confused gays, patrochilles - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27702374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Crow757/pseuds/Blue_Crow757
Summary: Achilles, better known as Chili, always knew he was outstanding tennis. He won almost every tournament he had disputed, people on the spot respected him, even though he was still young, he had the titles, he had the charisma, and most importantly, he had the talent. Tennis was his life, he lived, breathe, entering to win. His father had done it, his grandpa had done it, he felt he should do the same. I never thought he’d be in love with something or someone else ever as much, as he loves tennis ... until he met Patroclus.
Relationships: Achilles/Patroclus of Opus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Kudos: 21





	1. Every breath you take

Achilles or as better known by his friends as Chili pepper or just Chili, always knew he was the best at tennis. He won every championship he entered, people in the sport respected him, even though he was still young, he had the titles, he had the charisma and most importantly he had the talent. Tennis was his life, he breathed, live, and trained to win. His father had done it, his grandpa had done it, his grandpa had done it, so he felt he should do the same. He never thought he’d be in love with something or someone else ever as much as he loved tennis … until he met him. 

Chili had been a professional for two years, he went to the BMW Open after having won the St. Petersburg Open, having defeated his opponent Beowulf, in the finals, with two sets to zero, and having won on the start of the mouth the Monte Carlo Masters, against Spartacus, in both tournaments he had been spectacular and in less than two years touring he had earned the respect of all the older and younger players. There he was, coming from big victories, with a good reputation, and on his country, though he hadn’t been born in Germany, and yes in Athens, he always lived in his father’s home town, Hamburg, so he played under the German flag, even though when he visited his mother’s house in Santorini she always asked him when he was going to play as a greek. It never really bothered much but she would always do it. 

Yet nothing could shake him that year, at least was what he thought, he was already in the hotel, had gotten to Munich on the night before, and after a good night of sleep and a shower he went straight to the breakfast lounge of the hotel, so he could have a good meal and get ready for the qualifying day. He got in and went directly to the buffet as he always did, he got himself some pieces of fig, some bread, eggs, and bacon. As he got out of the buffet section he saw an arm signalizing towards him. 

“ Chili, here I saved you a spot .”- He heard the voice off Eudorus or as people called him Eddy

He walked toward the four-place table were Eddy was seated, he sat in front of him and was greeted by the rest of the group, there were other two people sitting at the table, Aeneas or Neas an American, a player from North Carolina, him and Chili had met years early when he was competing for the Junior at the Junior US Open, and Briseis at his side, or as he called her Bri, the top feminine Junior, half Turkish, half Greek girl with the scariest backhand he had seen in the last few years on feminine tennis.

“ It's good to see you guys.”- Chili said 

“ Congrats on monte Carlo .”- Bri said after sipping in her coffee

“ Thanks.”- Chili 

Achilles went back into eating his food, and listening to a story Neas was telling them about something that had happened with his racquet, Chili took that time while he was stuffing himself with food too also look around, he saw the brother’s Menelaus and Agamemnon sitting on a table not too far from them, Many as the younger tennis players called him was a fun-loving and very kind man, in contrast to that his brother Agamemnon, he was a man few liked, Achilles and he had never fought, but Agamemnon was known to have broken all the rules of decorum established in the sport by decorating himself as one of the greatest assholes the sport had ever been aware of, Chili was sure that if one day their paths crossed he would end up losing his composure, after all, that's why people called him chili pepper, he was hot-headed, but in the last few years he had learned how to control his anger and how to put it in his game. 

He looked to the other side and saw on another table there was Odysseus or as he insisted to call him Ody and Hector, Briseis’ cousin. They were both old and very good players together with Menelaus were the big three. They were the ones on top even though they weren’t always on top, they usually were the three best players in the world. He had finished his bacon and eggs when he came back to pay attention to Neas’ story, Bri and he was discussing if he should change his racket more during the matches, as they did Achilles got the fig from his plate and started to eat it looking back at the crowd, but as he did he spotted someone on the crowd. 

Achilles didn’t know him, his skin was a deep sun-kissed shade, he had dark brown curls someone of which had fallen about his face, he had a sharp jawline yet it didn’t make him seem older if anything it made him look like he had jovial, and the thing that caught Achille’s eye the most was that the man in question had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, they were a dark brown, but when he looked more attentively he saw the eyes of the unknown man had the color of Tamara, the one bathed in chocolate that reminded Chili of when his mother had bought chocolate bathed Tamaras for his birthday when he was little, it was a sweet memory that came along with this stranger who was so focused on eating his apple slices and reading the book he had in hands, that he didn’t even notice the blonde, two tables from him, staring directly at his face.

“ Who ?”- Neas asked turning to look into the direction of where Achilles’ eyes laid 

“ The man, two tables from us who is him ?”- Achilles asked, but he could be anyone

The hotel wasn’t exclusive for tennis players and people on the championship staff, but the federation made sure the great majority of people on the hotel were at least linked to the championship, he only could hope that the man was a new judge, thought he looked too young for that, or if he was a reporter for a foreign news outlet. 

“ Ohhh the guy in black ?”- Bri asked leaning into Achilles to have a better look 

He looked back for a second and saw that, yes the unknown man sitting two tables across from him was wearing a black shirt, he was actually all dressed in black. 

“ Yeah him .”- Achilles 

“ Ohhh .”- Briseis said

Her answered puzzled him, _Ohhh,_ wasn’t an answer given when Briseis didn’t know what was happening, hope stricken Achilles, maybe it was a friend of hers, and he could go ask the guy to sit with them.

“ Soo, you know him ?”- Achilles asked

“ No, not personally, he is the new guy .”- Briseis said 

“ New guy ?”- Eddy said looking back at him 

“ Yeah .”- Briseis said 

“ How is he the newcomer? I never even seen him in my life .”- Eddy said 

Though Eddy’s question wasn’t the most polite nether the better formulated one, what he said was true. It was almost impossible in the world of tennis, to get to the status of pro, and the others players not knowing you, yet Achilles and neither of his friends seem to know who he was, Chili at least believes if he had seen the boy before he wouldn’t have escaped his attention, not enough for him to forget him completely. Not because of the way he would have had to play to get to the status of pro, but because also the man’s eye-catching physical aspects. 

“ But he is the new guy. He was the guy that won the Masters 1000 Rome tournament last year, and he also won the Next-gen ATP finals last year. I saw one of his games on clay, he won the Masters 1000 Rome final against Diomedes last year.”- Briseis said 

She might not know who he was well, but Achilles knew she might have been warned by her cousin Hector about this mysterious newcomer, thought she wouldn’t play against him in the tournament, Hector would have told her. Hector was on the big three, which meant he had a lot of friends on the organizations, and in the inter weep of the sport, he would obviously know of a new mysterious player before anyone else. And, what Achilles also took into consideration was the information, that this player had defeated Diomedes on a clay court, Dio was no Menelaus a 20 times winner in clay, but he was one of the most skilled players on the surface. So some apprehension and apprehension did strike him in regards to the new man in town.

“ So he just came into existence last year. Where did he come from ?”- Eddy 

“ I don’t really know .”- Briseis 

“ He means, what did Hector tell you ?”- Achilles said playfully, turning his eyes for a second

Briseis looked at him with a knowing look, Achille knew Briseis for a smaller period than he had the other boys, but they had this back and forth that was almost natural. He used to tell people she was his little brother because she always insisted on hanging out with the boys. Some of the male players, were really comfortable with a girl, hanging out with them for a reason Achilles could never understand, Bri was thought as nails and funny as hell, so he always had her under his wing. Though her cousin being Hector was already reason enough for people to respect her.

Achilles always appreciated Briseis, because she was always determined, he knew that she had great potential and that she was one of the most talented women and one of the most talented players, he had the theory that most male players were intimidated by her because she was talented. Achilles had approached her and became friends with the girl because he knew her potential, he knew that if he played against her he would lose. 

“ My cousin said he is very good and that you shouldn’t underestimate him.”- Briseis said

“ Ohh please, he doesn’t seem too threatening.”- Eddy said looking back at him 

“ We should invite him to sit with us.”- Neas said 

“ Why ?”- Eddy asked turning back to Neas 

“ Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”- Neas

“ Okay I’ll invite him, to sit with us.”- Bri said 

She got up from her seat and went toward his table, Achilles felt a goosebump coming up his back, he made his expression stay as neutral as possible but if he could, but he couldn’t lie to himself he was nervous. Briseis walked gently towards the man Achilles was admiring and stopped next to him, but he didn't respond. Normally someone wouldn’t turn immediately towards someone close to them but the man seemed to not notice Briseis’ present at all. She looked back at the boy and with a faint whisper, they told him to call him. So she did …

“ Hey ?”- She said passed her hand through the boy's line of sight

He looked back at her half astonished and half surprised, he seemed to have been caught off guard by Bri's action. The man looked directly at her for approximately five seconds without saying anything, but it trully seemed like five our, the situation did feel awkward in general. Achilles could see the blush creeping up Briseis’ face, but after those agonizing five seconds a friendly smile crept up in the boys’ mouth, he swiftly turned away and took off air pods from his ears that his hair was hiding, that explained why he was caught by surprise.

“Hello .”- He said swiftly 

Chili was taken by a feeling he had never before, the sweetness of that man’s voice and the faint accent that he couldn’t really pinpoint, but felt it was close to home. As the man turned to face Briseis he put the straights of his beautiful hair behind his ears, Achilles could see he had a silver hoop earring handing from his ear and that was definitely a plus. 

“ Hey… My name is Briseis, I’m ... a player … a tennis player .”- Briseis said

Achilles found it a little weird, it didn’t really correspond to the confident and determinate attitude Briseis usually had, but ad Achilles was still taking in the new feelings this stranger brought to him, he only brushed it off as her being nervous to meet someone new. 

“ I know who you are, I have seen some of your games, I like your backhand a lot.”- He said gently still with that friendly smile and making Briseis blush even more 

“ Thanks, I… You’re name, what’s your name ?”- Briseis said sitting on the chair across from him 

“ I’m Patroclus … But people call me Pat.”- Patroclus said 

“ Nice to meet you, Pat, I’m Bri… But I already told you that .”- Briseis 

He laughed softly at her confusion, he wasn’t mocking her obviously but was amused that anyone like her would be nervous to meet him. Patroclus knew he new meat, he didn't have any friends there and he most surely didn’t expect for someone to go and introduce themselves to him, he wasn’t the most eys catching of people, at least was what he thought. On that point, he was totally wrong because when he laughed so gently and softly, Briseis felt a goosebump coming up her spine, and on the other table Achilles that was overlooking the whole interaction was feeling his body shift with arousal, he knew that sensation but didn’t know it could come from a simple and gently laugh. 

“ You like The police ?”- Briseis asked looking over to his phone were the icon of the band’s album was upon the phone’s screen 

“ Yeah _Every breath you take_ , is my jam .”- Pat said gently 

“ I love them they are really cool.”- Briseis pointed out, running out of things to say 

“ Yeah they are.”- Pat 

“ So, I came here to ask if you want to sit with me and m friends over there .”- Briseis said pointing out to the table 

“ Ohh .”- Pat said and looked back at the table where Neas, Eddy, and Chili were seated

As he looked over they all waved to him, Eddy waving his hand only once with total lack of enthusiasm, Neas waved enthusiastically like a child, and Achilles waved rather mildly, with the nervousness taking over him and the fact the beautiful man was looking at him didn’t help at all. Patroclus waved back softly with his gentle smile and shortly after went back to talking to Briseis.

“ I’m sorry, but I have already finished, and I really have to go to the court center. I agreed with my coach that I would be there half an hour earlier to talk about today's match, but maybe tomorrow. “- Patroclus said looking up the time on his phone 

“ Ohh, yeah that would be cool.”- Briseis said

“ Okay then it’s a deal.”- Patroclus said putting his phone away on his bag and getting his stuff to leave 

Briseis got up as he did, and looked as he got his bag, she accompanied him until they got to the table and he turned back to all of them. 

“ Bye guys, see you tomorrow."- Pat waving them good by 

“ See you .”- All of them waved him goodbye 

As he got out of the dining room, Briseis sat down again at her place on the table and all the boys started to ask her questions, while she maintains her eyes fished where they had last seen Patroclus. 

“ Soooo ?”- Neas asked

“ Ohh my god !’- Briseis said brushing her face with her hands 

“ What did he say ?”- Achilles asked with an excitement that wasn’t very usual for him 

“ My godI almost lost myself on that man .”- Briseis said 

“ Bri to earth, what did he say ?”- Achilles 

“ He said he would like to have breakfast with us tomorrow.”- Briseis 

“ And ?”- Neas 

“ He likes the police .”- Briseis said 

“ And …” Achilles echoed Neas

“ Chili I was under pressure I couldn't t get anything else out !”- She whispered angrily 

“ So, we have new meat and his name is ?” - Eddy asked 

“ Patroclus, but he told me to call him Pat.”- Briseis 

“ Patroclus .”- Achilles reperted the name

With that name in mind he zoned out, while his friends discussed the new player, he thought of his beautiful hair, handsome but gentle feature, Patroclus, a name that slipped from his tongue in such a sweet and natural way, he would surely know more of Patroclus, or matter effect Pat, because he wanted to feel that feeling he want he had when he had seen Pat’s face for the first time, he wanted to know and to feel every breath he took, every move he made, he wanted Patroclus.


	2. The boy with the dragon tattoo

The day was tiring, Chilli had his matches with one of his best opponents Ajax but, his games were flawless leaving him on top of his opponent by persevering and never giving up on a game or set, that was one of his always prevailed. Achilles was sorted into in group A as the head of the group seeing he had done the best against his opponent of all the four others sorted into the group A, of the players who were placed within his group he was the one that had won with the biggest advantage from his opponent and that made him the head player. But 2:00 he had already known who he would face in a space of two days, so after a conversation with his coach, about what tactics he should train in the morning of the day he would face Nestor, who was an old friend of his, he went to the athletes’ locker room. 

That wasn’t the biggest of the tournament so they were notified that they wouldn't have their own locker rooms as they had on the ATP Finals, not that it made any difference for Achilles he didn’t mind the extra company, sometimes he even enjoyed that no one suspected that he and another guy got out of the locker room simultaneously. He didn’t hide from his father that he was gay, his father had been the first person whom he had come out to, but there weren’t too many people that knew. He knew he could lose a lot from coming out now, chili was going to wait until he had consolidated his career, as Hector and Menelaus had, so he would have no fear in sharing the more private side of him. 

Chilli got to the surprisingly empty locker room, he thought most of the qualifying matches would have ended by now. But he didn’t give much mind to it, he just went to the locker where he had placed his bag. As he scoured through his things looking for his towel, he remembered putting it away in his bag this morning. As he looked for it he heard a single shower go off he heard footsteps going in his direction and that was when he remembered he had landed his towel, to Eddy because he had forgotten his at the hotel. He beat himself, Achilles really wanted to at least have he showered before going to the hotel, so what he could do was ask the other athlete in the dressing room for a towel, Achilles took a deep breath and turned towards the person who was right behind him. 

“Hey man can you lend me ….”- Achilles asked turning but stopped as he got the slight visual of the person behind him

The person that had their back to him had a big tatoo that covered a good part of their back, and some minor scars, but what caught Chili’s eye was the skin complexion, the man had only their bottom part covered my a towel, his whole torso and back, the sun-kissed skin complexion that made the muscles on the guys strong enough to break someone’s back, and the tatoo, a beautiful red dragon that covered a great patch of the back’s skin almost internally on the skin about the spine. Achilles admired the tatoo for a second or two, but quickly he realized who that was, and a shiver went down his spine. The new guy. 

Patroclus turned towards Achilles, drying his soaked brown curls with a smaller towel, only now Achilles noticed his athletic build, he wasn’t as buff as most of the other players, but even within his slim build, he had a very attractive body, that was almost at full display for Achilles to see at that moment.

“ What ?”- Pat asked as he finished to rub his hair dry 

“ I… I.. was gonna ask if you have another towel, I landed mine to a friend, but … you don’t need to bother .”- Achilles tried to his nervousness 

“ Ohh, I have a spare towel.”- Patroclus said taking a brand new and warm towel off his bag and handed it to Achilles without a second thought

“Thank you so much … um Patroclus .”- Achilles said, the name was so sweet on his tongue even though the situation was not the bets fro Achilles to start thinking on anything of the sexual ally 

“ I always have a spare one . “- Patroclus said, as he put the smaller towel on a plastic bag 

At that moment Achilles noticed that Patroclus had not only one, but two tattoos, he had another red dragon tattooed on his left wrist but this dragon circulated his wrist with his rap almost reaching his forearm and the head covered the top of his hand. 

“ Cool tatoo. “- Achilles said without thinking much as the nervousness had already clouded his mind

“ Thanks.”- Patroclus said 

Achilles thought os asking about the bigger scar he saw on Pat’s skin on his low right side, the scar that matched the place with one of the little ones on his back but he didn’t want to pry into the man’s life, he would think he was worn. 

“ So you are on group A ?”- Achilles was caught off guard by the other man’s question 

“ Yeah, I am the head o the group.”- Chili beat himself immediately after saying that, he shouldn’t have said that he would think he was flexing, Pat would think he was snobbish and he would hate him, at least that was what the blonde thought 

“ I got on to the head of group B, maybe we will see each other in semi-finals.”- Pat said that in a way that made Chili’s legs turn into jelly

Pat didn’t have any malicious tone on what he said Chili had only seen him twice but he was beginning to believe that the man had nothing not even a drop of bad on him, he stared at Patroclus‘s face for some second without responding, but not enough to became weird, then he answered that he’d be happy if they did and he thought it would be the end of the conversation, but again he was caught but a question coming from the other man. 

“ So you are german ?”- Pat asked dropping the towel from his hips

Chili could get a good look at Pat’s now expose the body, but he caught a glimpse of his perfectly sculpted ass, the blond adverted his eyes to the door of the locker room while the other player got dressed. 

“ Yeah, I am. Why do you ask ?”- Achilles asked gazing at the door

“ Have you come to Munich before ?”- Pat asked 

“ Sometimes.”- Achilles said swiftly gazing back at Patroclus that know was at least with the bottom half f his body clothed 

“ I never came to hear before, and I want to know if anyone knows somewhere I could go tomorrow.“- Pat said grabbing a black t-shirt from his bag 

“ Well there is the Munich Residence, the Old Pinakothek, the Museum Brandhorst, the Museum Five Continents, the Marstallmuseum and other nice places to visit.“- Achilles listed 

“ I want to go around the city tomorrow cause I don’t have any matches so I want to see the city before I have no time to do it .”- Patroclus 

“ That’s a great idea.”- Achilles 

“ You can come with me if you don’t have anything to do tomorrow?”- Pat asked as he tied his shoes

The universe might as well be smiling at him, Achilles thought, spend the whole day going around with this beautiful man. He’d be crazy to say no, so he said yes without thinking twice, he is really looking like an idiot by the way he is smiling, but Pat didn’t seem to mind his reaction, as the only thing he did was smiling back at him.

“ Yeah, tomorrow morning we can have breakfast with your friends and go around the city, maybe Briseis or your other friends can join us.”- Patroclus said excitedly 

His friends, that broke the level of happiness Achilles had grown in his stomach. If his friends were around most certainly he wouldn't be able to get everything he wanted to know about Patroclus, but still, he would be spending a whole day with him, so it would be so unbearable to have his friends around. 

“ We can talk to them tomorrow . “- Achilles 

“ Perfect.”- Patroclus got up and collected his things 

As Patroclus got his bags and prompted himself up he turned to Achilles one more time, Chili was waiting for a pat on the back or shoulder, but he definitely didn’t expect Pat to just, boop his nose. 

“ Boop.”- Patroclus said poking affectionately Chili’s nose 

It was kind of weird, but cute at the same time, as Pat walked away saying goodbye, Achilles was happy he could see the blush that took over his cheeks as Pat got out of the locker room. Achilles let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding and gradually held the towel Pat had landed to him with a stronger grip, he laid his back on the lockers behind him, he was not paying attention anymore to anything that surrounded him, his mind was confused with so many things but of one thing he was sure, he didn't know this Pat too well, but the man surely had won him over. 

━━━━━━ ✼ ━━━━━━

Achilles spend the whole night dreaming with Patroclus, he didn’t know why did his body and entire soul commit and feel for someone he only knew fro a couple of hours, but he thought to himself, it might really have been something of the lines of _It was met to be_. Yet he also felt some type of fear, he had never been afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve, and show his true feelings, but now he saw himself afraid to scare Pat, even though he didn’t know if he was gay or not it still made him afraid, to show his true feelings. It was a new feeling for him for sure. 

He had been passionate about a lot of things in his life, but nothing took him by storm as that boy had, and that scared him. The possibility of Pat not being there anymore, made him feel a type of fear he had never before felt, something that came from the bottom of his stomach, and took his body, making his blood run like ice through his veins. He would never say that out loud, of course, it would be such an embracement to show he had a weakness. On the back of his head, he knew it was a stupid thought and that he should show his feelings, not caring if people liked it or not, but something in him stopped him from doing it. So he decided that he would just dance around Pat, see what was his deal, maybe be friends with him, and if someday something happened, he would rejoice, but if nothing happened he wouldn’t ruin the friendship. 

That morning he woke up early, earlier than he would otherwise on a day off, he took a shower and groomed himself as if he was going to an important event, he shaved his beard off all the little thin pieces that were growing on his face, passed the vervain scent that he usually passed to go to meetings or gala events, unfortunately, he didn't have anything fancy packed, he wasn't going to wear a light suit, But wanting at least to be presentable, Achilles decided to wear a navy blue jeans jacket, a white T-shirt with emblem of the band Led Zepplin, that Eddy had given him the year before, he finished his outfit off with a black all-stars that he had bought few years prior and refused to throw away. 

He looked himself in the mirror before getting out of his room, thinking about Patroclus, that man had taken over all of his thoughts, and to be fair Achilles wasn’t bothered by this. Chili gave a lest look in the mirror decided to let his hair hang loose, it had been some time since he had last gotten a hair cut, he usually did cut much, only the tips, but his hair was now long enough for him to braid it, he decided against it letting loose and getting out of his room, heading for the lift that would take you to the breakfast lounge. He walked with his head down in the direction of the lift so he didn’t notice Eddy walking towards him. 

“ You’re looking good, who is the lucky girl ?”- Eddy asked teasingly 

“ Me and Patroclus are going to go to some museums around the city, I think he wanted to invite you.”- Achilles asked trying to hide his surprise because of Eddy’s accurate guess 

“ I’d love to go out with you, and the new guy, but I have a game today. I have to focus.”- Eddy said the first part quite sarcastically, but then shifting to a more neutral tone, trying to hide apprehension, needless to say, it didn’t work 

“ What is it you sound scared ?”- Chili asked pressing the button to call the lift 

“ I’m going to play against Hector.”- Eddy not hiding his apprehension 

“ Ohh, boy you are in trouble, but look at the bright sight, it’s not Many.”- Chili 

“ If I was going to play against Many on clay I would be shitting myself, not a little apprehensive.”- Eddy said as they got into the lift 

“ You’ll get him, Hector is terribly good on his first sets, you just have to tire him out, if you get to the third set, you will have tired him enough for him to start making mistakes.”- Chili advised Eddy 

“ Easier said than done, I’m not superhuman like you, I can’t withstand five hours under the sun just to tire him out like you.”- Eddy said 

“ Well that is the way I found to beat him, maybe you can find your way.”- Chili 

“ More like, get my ass handed to me .”- Eddy said as they got out of the lift on the lounge floor

They went straight to the buffet, got themselves some food, and went on to sit by a table to wait for the rest of their friends, Eddy talked about what he thought about doing against Hector, while Achilles just ate and waited for Neas, Bri, and of course Pat. Until Eddy caught his attention.

“ Did you see the new guy yesterday ?”- Eddy asked 

“ Patroclus ?”- Achilles asked 

“ Yeah, you saw his match yesterday. I wasn’t putting much of a thought on him but he got to the head of his group. He won two sets, against Spartacus.”- Eddy 

“ I knew he was the head of his group but, I didn’t know he had won like that.”- Achilles 

“ Yeah, some of the other guys are also a little … shook. I think we’ll have to keep an eye on him. We can't underestimate this kid, if we do he is gonna pull the rug under our feet and when we realize, he's going to be multi ATP champion and Grand slams and we're just going to stare.”- Eddy 

“ Yeah I think we should.”- Achilles said without thinking much

“ I mean, fuck look at him, he is not even here for two days and we are already having to keep an eye on him. I’m not gonna be surprised if he gets to semi-finals, and if he does, then he is gonna be your problem.”- Eddy 

“ What are you guys talking about ?”- Briseis voice was recognizable enough for them to turn immediately when they heard it

She had a plate on her hand with her food, accompanied by the one and only Patroclus, thought Neas was nowhere to be seen. Bot of them sat next to Achilles and Eddy, Briseis took the place next to Eddy and Pat, to the sit by Achilles’ side. The blonde’s breath riched slightly, as the boy that was all in black sat next to him. Pat’s hair covered his ears, as it had before, he looked back at Achilles and wished him a good morning. 

It was as if time stopped. Achilles could see the eyeliner that surrounded Pat’s alluring eyes, it wasn’t much, but enough to make his eyes seem bigger and even more aware. He was wearing a black turtle collar t-shirt that hugged his torso in all the right places, he was wearing a black leather jacket, with black trousers, and black combat boots. Achilles had to admit black was Pat’s color.

“ You are looking good, Chili. Where are you going and who is the lucky fellow?”- Briseis asked

“ We are going to go around the city.”- Pat said while eating an apple slice 

“ Ohh cool .”- Bri 

“ Do you guys want to come ?” Pat asked 

“ I can’t I’m going to watch my cousin today.”- Bri 

“ And of course you are going to cheer for him .”- Eddy teased her 

“ Of fucking course, I’m cheering for my cousin.”- Briseis 

“ And Aeneas, do you guys know about him ?”- Pat

“ I think he was going to have a meeting with your sponsors .”- Briseis 

“ So, it seems like it’s going to be just you and me.”- Pat smirked looking back at Achilles

“ Yeah.”- Achilles sounded almost breathless but no one seemed to see that

Achilles could feel the blush coming up his cheeks, definitely dream Patroclus didn’t even get close to how handsome Patroclus was in real life, Achilles thought to himself Patroclus was trully out of this world. He wouldn’t even think of it but he surely would not know that Pat had also dreamed of him on the night before. 


	3. It’s not a date

It had been some time since Pat had come to know of Achilles, he was amazing at every game he played, at first Pat didn’t really like him, he was hot-headed and sometimes he overreacted to other players offenses and provocations, but non the less that man grew on Pat. He would be lying if he said he didn’t grow to have a platonic crush on the man, but trully who in the tour didn’t have a crush on the blonde german player. Of course Pat knew the man was too out of his league, he was had won tournaments even though he hadn’t been a professional for long. 

So when he saw him on the first day at the Munich Open he was quite star-strucked, and not just that he was looking him without any intentions of stopping, Patroclus maybe thought he had been informed of his presence and wasn't too keen on having someone around that he didn’t really know, so Pat just kept himself calm not letting Achilles know he knew he was being watched. But it all shifted when someone went to his table, he didn't want to cause any trouble to himself by blushing or saying the wrong thing so he just ignored that there was someone next to him. 

But when he was forced to acknowledge the presence of the other person he prayed it would be Chili, and it seemed that the gods had answered his prayer, because the person that had gone to talk to him, was into Achilles, it was that girl, Briseis. She was very good, surely she would become a world renamed tennis player. She was smiling at him so he gave him also the courtesy of a smile. She sat at his table and they talked a bit, he didn’t remember the exact words, because he was quite nervous to be talking to an actual professional tennis player, even though now he was also one.

As he got away to meat with his coach he only thought on the blue eyes of the man that seemed to watch him like a hawk looking at his newest prey, just to think of those bluer than blue eyes Pat could feel a shiver coming up his spine. But he didn’t let the images of Achilles, ruin his concentration. Pat was good at compartmentalizing things, he wasn’t temperamental he did hold grudges but he was a grown-up, he acted like one, on-court his game had flawless and strong points but he always seemed like ice, which was extremely difficult to crack. 

He won his first match by two sets to zero, and to his coach's and his joy he was named the head of his group, he had great chances to get to the semi-finals, he knew that and now the other players would know, he was very good at clay court, as was Menelaus, and he was thirsty to win. After his match he went to the locker room for the athletes and take a shower, while the warm water fell on his head he saw himself in deep thought, this was big, he was playing against the big ones now, he had to bring his A-game to the tournament otherwise he would be crushed like a cockroach. 

As he thought to himself he looked to his medallion, it was his little lucky charm, he had been given that by his friend Bjorn, he always thought fondly of those crazy Northman that helping his uncle Chiron, to raise him after he lost his parents, that little medallion always helped him I bad times, he remembered Bjorn’s word when he had given it to him. 

“ This is the symbol of Loki the god of mischief he is the trickster god, his symbol is made of snakes and he was often represented by two snakes circling each other forming an S symbol, and biting the tail of the other. The trickster god is the Patronus of the trickster and intelligent, you are intelligent but you need to be a trickster to win on your new life. “- Bjorn told him as Patroclus went on to his first tennis match

And now he was there on a big tournament, on his debut as a tennis professional, he knew what he had to be, he had to be the trickster and that was exactly what he was going to do. So he got out of the shower and went to get his thinks, he was so into his own mind that he didn’t even realize he had another person in that locker room with him. 

"Hey man can you lend me ...." - He heard a voice from behind him 

“ What ?”- Pat asked as he turned around without thinking twice 

When he turned he saw Achilles. Pat could believe how bad his timing had been, of course, he had to bump with his crush in the locker room, in such a vulnerable situation. 

“ I… I.. was gonna ask if you have another towel, I landed mine to a friend, but … you don’t need to bother .”- Achilles asked 

It was the first time he and Patroclus had a true conversation, rather than just Achilles looking at him, and him not having the guts to look back at him. Achilles was looking at him in a very friendly but kind of weird way, he didn’t really know why but he just brushed it off a Chili toying with him.

“ Ohh, I have a spare towel.”- Patroclus said nervously, getting a new towel from his bag so Achilles would see him blushing 

“Thank you so much … um Patroclus .”- Achilles said

Pat felt like his legs shook, when his name left Achilles’ mouth, Patroclus really didn’t want to seem flustered, and the last thing he wanted was to let that awkward silence come up so he just thought about inventing something. But Achilles bit him to that. 

“ Cool tatoo. “- Achilles said 

“ Thanks.”- Patroclus said looking back at the tattoo on his wrist, but also realizing the blonde was talking about the dragon on his back 

They talked about the tournament and their groups, and in that, the conversation flowed better than it would have if they were really talking about themselves, but the impersonal themes were recurrent things in a conversation where not much could be talked about, the reality was that Patroclus didn’t know Achilles at all, and that talking about deep things was out of the question. 

“ So you are german ?”- Pat asked dropping the towel from his hips

He wanted to punch himself in the face, _what type of question was that_ , of course, he was german, Pat really was letting the nervousness get to him. But Achilles answered him rather awkwardly.

“ Yeah, I am. Why do you ask ?”- Achilles asked gazing at the door

“ Have you come to Munich before ?”- Pat asked 

“ Sometimes.”- Achilles said swiftly gazing back at Patroclus 

“ I never came to here before, and I want to know if anyone knows somewhere I could go tomorrow.“- Pat said grabbing a black t-shirt from his bag

“ Well there is the Munich Residence, the Old Pinakothek, the Museum Brandhorst, the Museum Five Continents, the Marstallmuseum and other nice places to visit.“- Achilles listed 

“ I want to go around the city tomorrow cause I don’t have any matches so I want to see the city before I have no time to do it.”- Patroclus 

“ That’s a great idea.”- Achilles 

“ You can come with me if you don’t have anything to do tomorrow?”- Pat asked as he tied his shoes

Pat was holding his breath, he had just taken a step towards becoming friends with his crush, Patroclus felt like he had just jumped from a cliff. he was trully holding his breath waiting for Achilles’ answer, it felt like ten hours before Achilles agreed to go out with him. 

“ We can talk to them tomorrow . “- Achilles 

“ Perfect.”- Patroclus got up and collected his things 

So as Patroclus, got up he thought about hugging him, but that would be too much, they hardly knew each other, but then again Patroclus wanted to leave a good impression, but also the confidence of someone who was irreverent and self-assured, so he just booped Achilles' nose. 

“ Boop.”- Patroclus said poking affectionately Chili’s nose

He got out of the locker room and as the door shut behind him, he whispered himself a rageful reprehension for himself _what the fuck was he thinking_ , he thought to himself. But he had some tranquillity in his heart because even if he had been the most awkward he had been in his life, he still had scored a quote on quotes date. 

━━━━━━ ✼ ━━━━━━

_It’s not a date._ Pat reminded himself as he was sitting together with Achilles on the subway, to the Alte Pinakothek, he had dressed well but not well enough to cause suspicion. As they sat together Pat could see an old lady sitting in front of them, looking both of them in wondering but disapproving, Pat had seen this type of look a lot of times, but surely he didn’t really give a fuck. 

As they got too out of the subway and walking over two blocks they got to the Alte Pinakothek, there weren’t many people at the museum, much less the exhibition they went to, the exhibition about Astrid Klein one of the most important voices in German post-war and contemporary art. Patroclus thought her work to be very interesting, but he could see Achille was just kind of tagging along, and he felt bad for the blonde, but he seemed to get over his lack of knowledge by asking Pat about her work, while they sat in front of one of the works in the exhibition. 

“ So tell me about her .”- Achilles told him 

“ What ?”- Pat asked turning to look at Achilles 

“ About her, about Klein.”- Achilles said gesturing to the photo work in front of them 

“ She is a post-second world war, contemporary artist, I like her aesthetics specifically because the key aspect throughout her work is its critical engagement with the political climate of post-war Germany and the Western world, with its fears and yearnings transmitted by the media across the globe.”- Pat said very passionately, he was a lover of her art and was stocked to know that there was an exhibition of her works, so he was quite excited to tell anyone about the work of Klein’s life 

“ Interesting.”- Achilles said, not really paying the utmost attention to what Patroclus said but, most to the passion which whom he spoke 

“ Interesting indeed. Astrid Klein explores power structures that both transcend boundaries and assume stereotypical forms, she adopts an artistic approach but a more grounded in the critical scrutiny of conventional visual culture that draws on the insights of the psychology of perception. Her work is trully remarkable.”- Patroclus said 

“ So you are an especially on her work ?”- Achilles asked rather surprised 

“ No, not at all. I’m just … I find comfort within art, and she is one of my favorite artists. But yeah I know a bit about her … I mean I am at a point in my life that I know, I’ll only know so much about screen subjects because no one can know everything about anything. I don’t know if it’s confusing.”- Patroclus 

“ No, it’s not confusing at all. You find solace within it. I think that cool.”- Achilles tried to sound as the least shook possible, but in his opinion, he was falling miserably 

Patroclus was trully perfect, he was an excellent tennis player, a friendly person, and one of the most cultured people he had ever met, he didn't know if he could fall more in love with that man and even if that was the second day since he had laid his eyes upon him, he felt he had fallen head over hills. 

“ It’s really amazing that you know so much about it. I wished I was so cultured .”- Achilles 

“ I mean I found refuge withing art and other things in life to evade, some of the bad things that have happened to me in my life, it’s like I became a lover of art because it was something that terribly puzzled, I only became enamored by it, because it took me away from reality. But you wouldn’t like to know about that.”-Pat 

Pat looked at Chili’s face, there was some sadness, but also some pity, he didn’t like to be looked at in that way but he didn’t have the heart to, didn’t wnat to be rude especially with Achilles, he was probably just wondering why would he have said something personal. Pat couldn’t help it, even though they knew each other for a limited amount of time he already felt close to him.

“ I’m sorry that something bad happened to you .”- Achilles

“ You don’t need to be sorry, it’s not your fault after all.”- Pat said rather melancholically 

“ But what happened?”- Achilles asked 

“ Why would you like to know ?”- Pat asked, but rather cautiously

Achilles closed his eye hating himself for having made that question, being nosy would help him, earn some points with Patroclus, _he really fucked up_ , the thought came up his head as fast as a rocket, what would he tell Patroclus now, he tried to think in some excuse but he found he only could be truthful to Patroclus, he was already hiding too much from him. 

“ Because you are a good person, and I don’t think you deserve anything bad happening to you .”- Chili said looking Pat deeply in his eyes 

“ You don’t really know me to say that. What if I am a bad person?”- Pat said 

“ There is no way. You have been nothing but good to me.”- Achilles 

“ Maybe I was in a good mood .”- Pat toyed with Chili 

“ I don’t think so. In my guts I know you are too good, sometimes to good to be true .”- Achilles teased back, but it was clearly the truth

He knew he had done something right when that smile came back to Patroclus’ face, that radiant smile, he had seen before only glimpses of it, but he had imagined it in his dreams, he could tell the reality was better, he smiled back in response to the other man wanting to control and encourage him to tell him more.

“ It’s a very sad story, and this is a beautiful day, I don’t want to drop the mood.”- Patroclus 

“ Well I don think I would say no to a roller coaster of emotions, that’s what good movies are made of right ?”- Achilles asked teasing Patroclus 

“ Yet, it is a mood killer one so.”- Pat 

“ I promise I won’t cry if you don’t .”- Chilli 

“ Are you doing this because you don’t know anything about me ?”- Patroclus asked skeptically 

“ I’m not telling anyone else if that is what you want .”- Achilles said crossing his heart 

“ All right, I started to like art, after my parents died... They died when I was very young on a car crash, of which I was the only survivor .”- Pat told Achilles with a melancholic tone, his smile died when he got passed the _all right_

It hit Achilles that the good nature, that Patroclus emanated, was not coming from a place of happiness but from a tragedy, suddenly Achilles couldn't fathom how Pat was so nice and happy, he understood that trully the brown-haired, chocolate-eyed boy was someone far more complex and far better than he thought he was primarily.

“ By the gods .”- whispered overlooking Patroclus’ face 

“ I told you it was a mood killer…”- Pat didn’t finish his phrase before he received a warm hug

It was kind of awkward for the brown-haired boy to think, someone Sympathetic so much with his story without even having heard it completely, he did not know how to lean into the hug, Achilles had swiftly pulled him close hugging her with his hands grabbing her shoulder and the small of his back, he felt the blond man's head stood on his left shoulder and could also be the other man's breath hitting him in the back of the neck, that situation was really tempting but at the same time very sweet because of Achilles' compassionate action.

“ I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to pray in your life. I'm sorry for being too curious.”- Achilles 

“ I mean, I would have to tell someone at some time. There is no point on being the mysterious man for too long.”- Patroclus 

“ You are a good person Pat.”- Achilles said letting Patroclus out of his arms but still keeping a hold on his shoulders 

“ And you are somewhat of a visionary.”- Patroclus 

“ Tell me more, I want to know more about you .”- Achilles said cheerfully 

“ Okay, I’ll tell you more, over lunch. Come on let’s go .”- Patroclus 

Patroclus got up and held a hand towards Achilles, he had a very shy but joyful smile, even though they had been talking about such a painful thing to Pat. He felt melancholic when he talked of his parents, or of the darkest times in his life. But now he was in a very good place and this boy Achilles, maybe one of the most compassionate people he had ever met, Pat was in a better place now, and he preferred to smile over crying. 

“Let's go.”- Patroclus said reaching his hand to Achilles 

Achilles took his hand, even though when he wanted to keep his hand on his, but he knew what it would look like and he didn't want to spoil the young friendship that was being born within them. So he let go of Patroclus' hand and turned his face as they both went away from the museum. Patroclus did feel a sting when Achilles let go of his hand but he thought it may be for good measure that they only stay as friends, so as they stroll out of the museum, they both were tempted to hold hands but just walked together instead. 


	4. Family is a tough business

It was easy to talk to, Patroclus, he was very nice and was sympathetic to everything, he was very fun-loving and had a lot of knowledge about almost every piece of art they had seen on their day out in the city, but Pat didn’t really talk about himself, so when he and Achilles stopped at a very picturesque Italian restaurant and sat at a table on a relatively more isolated place on the restaurant. 

“ So what do you want to ask me ?”- Patroclus asked 

“ What ?”- Achilles asked back as he was caught off guard 

“ You are looking at me, instead of looking at your spaghetti alle vongole, without saying anything… So what do you want to ask me ?”- Patroclus asked Achilles 

“ I just don’t want to be nosy.”- Achilles said looking Pat directly in his eyes 

“ Just ask me, Achilles.”- Pat 

“ What did you do before being on tour ?”- Chili asked 

“ Uh, It’s a long story.”- Pat 

“ I mean, I am still in the middle of my spaghetti alle vongole, and you are also not close to finishing your Cacio e Pepe Potato Gnocchi, so tell me.”- Chili

“ Okay, but remember you asked for it.”- Pat

Patroclus seemed a little cautious, thinking how should he tackle such a subject, he locked to the side looking into the restaurant and adverting his eyes from Achilles, maybe trying to convey how to tell his story and editing it to be interesting to the blonde, and with each second that Patroclus reverted into his thought Achilles saw himself more curious to know what would have happened on Pat’s life for him to be thinking so hard about it. 

“ So, tennis wasn’t the first sport I got myself into, I was raised by my uncle Chiron, and he had a very strong relationship with motorsport, so I got into it too.”- Pat 

“ So you were competing in Formula One ?”- Achilles asked excitedly 

“ No, no, I was competing on Moto2, which is one of the championships before MotoGP, it’s basically Formula 1 but with motorcycles.”- Patroclus said after having a bite Cacio e Pepe Potato Gnocchi

“ That’s awesome.”- Achilles stated 

“ Yeah it was, I was one of the youngest contenders for the title, I had won the Moto3, with only 15 years only, the same year that I had started to play tennis.”- Pat told him, he had a brightness upon his eyes when he talked about it, it seemed that he liked motorsport very much, so the doubt arose in Chili's mind 

“But why did you get out? If you were so good at it. Not that you are not good at tennis, but you seem to like it a lot.”- Achilles 

“ Well, I was on my way to get myself to win the Moto2 championship, and get a spot at the MotoGP, when I had an accident.”- Pat 

It suddenly clicked to Achilles, Patroclus wasn’t wary of talking about his past because there was something bad, but he just didn't want to relive those memories, Chili felt like rubbish, he had pressed Pat until he talked about one of his trauma, he really had fucked it up, big time.

“ Oh, I’m sorry I really shouldn’t have …”- Achilles 

“ No it’s okay, I think talking about it, just makes it more of a natural thing, it’s not like it impaired my life in some way, my uncle was just scared, and I decided that it would be better if I just moved to something else I was good at. I mean I still ride my bike almost everywhere, I just don’t do it competitively any more.”- Pat explained 

“ I… I just thought it seemed quite traumatic. And I wouldn’t want you to relive those moments just for my dumb curiosity.”- Achilles 

“ It’s not dumb, and I got out without any scratches. Just a scar on my back.”- Pat said and Chili imminently remembered the scar on his back near the tattoo 

“ I’m sorry for asking about it.”- Achilles

“I already told you Chili, you don’t need to feel sorry for me. I don’t like when people feel sorry for me, because it seems that they only see the trauma I have been through, and not that it made me stronger and more resilient.”- Pat 

“ I guess that is true.”- Achilles said melancholically

“ But enough of talking about me, tell me about your family.”- Patroclus said relighting that precious smile of his 

Achilles didn’t like to talk about his family, and the main reason was that it was complicated in a way most people didn’t understand, having divorced parents were quite a common thing nowadays, and most parents did have messy divorces as his parents had, but he never really elaborated on how bad things were. He guessed many people wouldn’t understand that at a young age he already knew that his well-being and happiness weren’t as counted as his parents, rather they valued his presence as if he was a possession. Whoever would he have him would win. 

He remembered living with his mother for most of the divorce, and he remembered how she mostly avoided him, and that frustrated him to no end, so when the divorce was finalized he was on the brink of being six years old and had to move all the way to Germany to live with his father, that due to some legal issues and some dispensations his mother obtained and the abuse of medications usually for headaches that she would take daily, had won his custody. He found tennis as a way to escape from all of that at first, then as something he was immensely talented at. 

“ My family is complicated.”- Achilles 

“ Uh, then tell me.”- Patroclus said looking very aware 

That was the thing, Chili hadn’t really told anyone about his mother, and about how their relationship was, he felt bad talking about it, because to the little number of people he told that she instantly became a monster, he didn't know if it was the way he told what had happened or if it was just a general realization that she was bad, Thetis was far from an exemplar mother, but still, she was his mother. He took a deep breath and thought about how he should tell Pat about his mother, however it did hit him that it was easy talking to Patroclus, maybe he would understand, so he cooled off some nervousness building upon his stomach.

“ So my parents they never really loved each other, they married because my father got my mother pregnant on a holiday he was having in Greece, my mother was a young artist and my father was the heir to a fortune, and at that age, he was trying to be a rebel, he didn’t want to be like his father, so he decided to travel the continent, and he ended up in Greece right around spring and him and my mom met then I happened.”- Achilles 

“ It’s a start.”- Pat

“ Yeah, but things, went sour some years after, when I was four, they decided to divorce, because my father had to come back to Germany o inherit his late father’s fortune and businesses, and my mother wouldn’t have that, so they decided to divorce, but both of them wanted me, and I never thought they wanted me because it was me, it was more like…”- Achilles

“ Whoever had you, won.”-Patroclus said 

He was mildly shocked, not many people got to that conclusion so fast, and yes it was the truth. So it made Achilles tense to tell Patroclus the rest of the story, cause if he had got to that conclusion that quickly it wouldn’t take long for him to connect the dots of why did his mother lose his custody.

“ So it was a messy divorce, my mother fell into a deep depression and started using medicine to make herself feel “ alive” again, so my father got my custody, and for years I only saw my mom on holidays.”- Achilles 

“ So how is your mom now ?”- Pat asked, and that made Achilles truly surprised, that was the part when people would bad mouth his mother, and he would have to sit through it because she had been a bad mother to him but still she was his mother 

“ She is still going, she has stopped with the medications from what I know, but with the tour, I can only visit her for so much time… so I feel guilty, but, yet I don't want to see her that much, because every time I go there, she finds something bad to say, but when I’m not there she says she missed me you know, it’s complicated.“- Achilles 

“ It has its duality, you are angry at her because of her behaviour, but in the end, she is still your mother.”- Pat 

Chili was bewildered, Patroclus did understand, he didn’t judge or bad mouth his mother, he had a warm look in his eyes as he looked upon Achilles, and in return Achilles smile at him brightly, Patroclus really was the best of people, and it didn't surprise Achilles that he had completely and utterly fallen in love with him. 

━━━━━━ ✼ ━━━━━━

The tournament went on and Achilles got himself to the semi-finals, after winning all the games that week, he saw himself going forward on the tournament, but the tournaments weren’t the highlight, suddenly it wasn’t what Achilles was looking forward to, what he looked forward to was without a doubt, was when night fell and Achilles went back to his room, him and Pat would text and call each other, they would talk about anything and everything, it was a safe space. 

Both of them got to the semi-finals, and it was after he had won his second game of the week when his coach told him he would be playing against Patroclus. His feelings were mixed about that because even though he was excited because he would get to see Patroclus, but he was going against Pat, and the last thing he wanted was to antagonize Patroclus, the last thing he wanted was to involve the strong emotions that came up in court to what they have. So he was quite afraid when he and Patroclus had their nightly appointment. 

“ So we’re on semi-finals .”- Patroclus said it out of the blue after Achilles picked up his phone

“ Yeah. ”- Achilles said more neutrality 

“ Aren’t you excited ?”- Patroclus asked, and Achilles could listen to the excitement on his voice 

“ Well, yes … I am looking forward to tomorrow.”- Achilles said not trying to discourage Pat, wet it didn’t pass over the other man’s head that he wasn’t really looking forward to their game

“ What is it ?”- Pat 

“ Nothing, it’s nothing.”- Achilles 

“ What are you not excited about, is there something wrong?”- Pat 

“ There is nothing wrong, I’m just a little nervous.”- Achilles 

“ I mean why would you be nervous ?”- Patroclus asked, confused by Chili 

_How to tell him that?_ Chili thought to himself, how to tell him he didn’t want to play with him because he didn’t want to mix feelings, Achilles usually didn’t play with good emotions in mind, rage and wrath give him the strength and determination and the last thing he wanted, but he didn't want to say the wrong thing, him and Pat had been talking everyday on the past week of the tournament so Chili knew he would at least know if he was being 100% truthful. 

“ I don’t know, I just feel wary.”- Achilles said 

“ What am I that intimidating ?”- Patroclus 

“ Hahaha, no Pat, you are too much of a good person.”- Achilles 

“ And let me guess, you would hate to crush my game.”- Patroclus said in a good humour sarcasm

“ No! Not that, I just… I think maybe if you got someone else on the semi-finals it would be better…”- Achilles 

“ Achilles... You are my friend right ?”- Patroclus asked interrupting Achilles on his line of thought 

“ Yes of course.”- Achilles said without flickering 

“ And I wouldn't want to go to my first semi-final on a professional tournament, if it’s not with you, I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.”- Patroclus said 

Achilles could feel the sun shine smile that Patroclus was giving him, it felt amazing to talk to Patroclus for a reason. Chili and Pat would have a confrontation as the sun rose on the next day. But on that night, Achilles and Patroclus rejoiced with each other, wishing that the night did end, and that they wouldn't have to face each other on the next day.   
  



End file.
